History UsefulNotes / Houston

Oh, and it's ''the'' place to call when you want to inform MissionControl that [[Film/{{Apollo 13}} you have a problem]]. '''[[SchmuckBait And For the love of GOD,]] [[FandomRivalry if you are a fan of anything in Dallas and you are in Houston]], [[SeriousBusiness keep it to it yourself]].'''

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Oh, and it's ''the'' place to call when you want to inform MissionControl that [[Film/{{Apollo 13}} you have a problem]]. '''[[SchmuckBait And For the love of GOD,]] [[FandomRivalry if you are a fan of anything in Dallas and you are in Houston]], [[SeriousBusiness keep it to it yourself]].'''

For much of its history, Houston was quite small and unimportant. In fact, nearby Galveston was more important and larger for a long time. After Galveston was torn apart by a hurricane, the focus shifted to the more inland city of Houston, especially after the coming of oil. Despite the discovery of oil, Houston remained a smaller, lesser-known city up until after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII when one of the greatest revolutions in demographic shifts brought about by technology happened: the "Air-Conditioning Revolution". This is not a joke. The coming of air conditioning made the once inhospitable Western and Southern climates of the United States more welcoming, and a massive population shift took place, as people moved from the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt. Houston subsequently exploded like a weed, and it, along with other Sun Belt cities like UsefulNotes/LosAngeles and San Jose rose to prominence as some of the largest cities in the country. Houston spread in all directions, eventually surrounding some cities that incorporated to avoid annexation. These cities became enclaves, cities surrounded by the entirety of the city of Houston (this is common for other major cities in Texas as well). Despite being independent, these enclaves are really nothing more than self-important neighborhoods, and could largely be considered apart of Houston, except they aren't on paper. This has lead to controversy, as many of these enclaves, in both Houston and elsewhere, are some of the whitest, richest cities in not just Texas but the entire '''country'''. Discussing the merits of their existence leads to [[FlameWar unpleasantness]]. The City of Houston has been so kind as to document its unbelievably rapid growth for us [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=445Z1Dc5-Rw&feature=player_embedded here]].

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For much of its history, Houston was quite small and unimportant. In fact, nearby Galveston was more important and larger for a long time. After Galveston was torn apart by a hurricane, the focus shifted to the more inland city of Houston, especially after the coming of oil. Despite the discovery of oil, Houston remained a smaller, lesser-known city up until after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII when one of the greatest revolutions in demographic shifts brought about by technology happened: the "Air-Conditioning Revolution". Revolution." This is not a joke. The coming of air conditioning made the once inhospitable Western and Southern climates of the United States more welcoming, and a massive population shift took place, as people moved from the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt. Houston subsequently exploded like a weed, and it, along with other Sun Belt cities like UsefulNotes/LosAngeles and San Jose rose to prominence as some of the largest cities in the country. Houston spread in all directions, eventually surrounding some cities that incorporated to avoid annexation. These cities became enclaves, cities surrounded by the entirety of the city of Houston (this is common for other major cities in Texas as well). Despite being independent, these enclaves are really nothing more than self-important neighborhoods, and could largely be considered apart of Houston, except they aren't on paper. This has lead to controversy, as many of these enclaves, in both Houston and elsewhere, are some of the whitest, richest cities in not just Texas but the entire '''country'''. '''country.''' Discussing the merits of their existence leads to [[FlameWar unpleasantness]]. The City of Houston has been so kind as to document its unbelievably rapid growth for us [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=445Z1Dc5-Rw&feature=player_embedded here]].

Houston also has a proud history with its stadiums. The Astros' Minute Maid Park and the Texans' NRG Stadium both have retractable roofs (which tend to remain closed due to Houston's notorious Summer humidity). Obviously, any talk about Houston sports has to include the Astrodome. Billed as the "Eight Wonder of the World" and opened in 1965, it was the first domed stadium in the world and gave rise to the use of artificial turf in baseball and football. Nowadays, the Dome sits vacant next to the larger NRG Stadium and any discussion about its future will yield a heated debate. Rounding out the sports venues are the Rockets' Toyota Center, the Dynamo's BBVA Compass Stadium, the University of Houston's TDECU Stadium, and historic Rice Stadium.

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Houston also has a proud history with its stadiums. The Astros' Minute Maid Park and the Texans' NRG Stadium both have retractable roofs (which tend to remain closed due to Houston's notorious Summer summer humidity). Obviously, any talk about Houston sports has to include the Astrodome. Billed as the "Eight Wonder of the World" and opened in 1965, it was the first domed stadium in the world and gave rise to the use of artificial turf in baseball and football. Nowadays, the Dome sits vacant next to the larger NRG Stadium and any discussion about its future will yield a heated debate. Rounding out the sports venues are the Rockets' Toyota Center, the Dynamo's BBVA Compass Stadium, the University of Houston's TDECU Stadium, and historic Rice Stadium.

Houston also has a very active sports scene with pro teams in almost every major American league (except hockey). Houston is home to the Houston Texans of the NFL, the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball, the Houston Rockets of the NBA, and the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer. There used to be a different NFL team in the city once upon a time, the Houston Oilers, but the team left town for Tennessee in the late 90s (kind of a sore topic for native sports fans, so bring this up at your own risk). Houston also two major college athletic programs: the University of Houston Cougars and the Rice University Owls. Overall, major successes of Houston based sports teams have been few and far between. While both the Rockets and the Dynamo won two championships each, and the (now defunct) Houston Comets of the WNBA were that league's first dynasty, the Astros have made the World Series only once (and were swept by the Chicago White Sox in four games), and the Texans have never made it to the conference championship game, let alone the Super Bowl. This has led some to characterize the city's teams as [[ButtMonkey hapless]], although it's not for the lack of trying. Houston has had a very impressive list of players play for its teams, like Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Tracy [=McGrady=], Yao Ming, and James Harden for the Rockets; Nolan Ryan, Craig Biggio (whose entire career was spent here), and Jeff Bagwell for the Astros; Andre Johnson and J.J. Watt for the Texans; Ken Stabler, Chris Matthews, Earl Campbell, and Warren Moon for the Oilers; Brian Ching and Brad Davis for the Dynamo and Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler were the biggest-name members of the Phi Slama Jama Cougars era.

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Houston also has a very active sports scene with pro teams in almost every major American league (except hockey). Houston is home to the Houston Texans of the NFL, the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball, the Houston Rockets of the NBA, and the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer. There used to be a different NFL team in the city once upon a time, the Houston Oilers, but the team left town for Tennessee in the late 90s (kind of a sore topic for native sports fans, so bring this up at your own risk). Houston also has two major college athletic programs: the University of Houston Cougars and the Rice University Owls. Overall, major successes of Houston based sports teams have been few and far between. While both the Rockets and the Dynamo won two championships each, and the (now defunct) Houston Comets of the WNBA were that league's first dynasty, the Astros have made the World Series only once (and were swept by the Chicago White Sox in four games), and the Texans have never made it to the conference championship game, let alone the Super Bowl. This has led some to characterize the city's teams as [[ButtMonkey hapless]], although it's not for the lack of trying. Houston has had a very impressive list of players play for its teams, like Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Tracy [=McGrady=], Yao Ming, and James Harden for the Rockets; Nolan Ryan, Craig Biggio (whose entire career was spent here), and Jeff Bagwell for the Astros; Andre Johnson and J.J. Watt for the Texans; Ken Stabler, Chris Matthews, Earl Campbell, and Warren Moon for the Oilers; Brian Ching and Brad Davis for the Dynamo and Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler were the biggest-name members of the Phi Slama Jama Cougars era.

Interestingly, it also has the largest collection of skyscrapers in Texas, including the tallest building outside a central business district, the Williams Tower. It also has probably the most spread out skyline in the entire United States, owing to the fact that it is the largest city in the country without formal zoning laws. This is not an historical accident. It's been said that Social Security is the third rail of American politics, but that doesn't hold a candle to Houstonians' reaction to zoning proposals. More than one political career has been suddenly ended by embracing proposals that, while not zoning in themselves, could have led to it. This has led to a skyline that is more expansive than Los Angeles'[[note]]the Uptown Area by itself, home to the Williams Tower, is home to more than 23 million square feet of office space and is bigger than the downtowns of Los Angeles, UsefulNotes/{{Denver}}, or UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}}[[/note]], but less dense than UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} and UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity. This has also, unfortunately, led to one of the most infamous cases of urban sprawl in the country, with suburbs spread out for miles in every direction. Much of the area (and by much, we mean all) north and west of the city remains unincorporated, mainly because of Texas' extraterritorial jurisdiction ([=ETJ=]) laws, thus placing it all effectively within the city of Houston, and making it so Houston doesn't have to annex it. Recently, a large area to Houston's north, The Woodlands, has been trying to incorporate. Houston has been amazingly conciliatory (probably due to messy annexation fights when Houston consumed the master planned communities of Clear Lake City and Kingwood), but Woodlands residents have been hit with sticker shock and this may not happen.

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Interestingly, it also has the largest collection of skyscrapers in Texas, including the tallest building outside a central business district, the Williams Tower. It also has probably the most spread out skyline in the entire United States, owing to the fact that it is the largest city in the country without formal zoning laws. This is not an a historical accident. It's been said that Social Security is the third rail of American politics, but that doesn't hold a candle to Houstonians' reaction to zoning proposals. More than one political career has been suddenly ended by embracing proposals that, while not zoning in themselves, could have led to it. This has led to a skyline that is more expansive than Los Angeles'[[note]]the Uptown Area by itself, home to the Williams Tower, is home to more than 23 million square feet of office space and is bigger than the downtowns of Los Angeles, UsefulNotes/{{Denver}}, or UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}}[[/note]], but less dense than UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} and UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity. This has also, unfortunately, led to one of the most infamous cases of urban sprawl in the country, with suburbs spread out for miles in every direction. Much of the area (and by much, we mean all) north and west of the city remains unincorporated, mainly because of Texas' extraterritorial jurisdiction ([=ETJ=]) laws, thus placing it all effectively within the city of Houston, and making it so Houston doesn't have to annex it. Recently, a large area to Houston's north, The Woodlands, has been trying to incorporate. Houston has been amazingly conciliatory (probably due to messy annexation fights when Houston consumed the master planned communities of Clear Lake City and Kingwood), but Woodlands residents have been hit with sticker shock and this may not happen.

When UsefulNotes/NewOrleans sank beneath the waves during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, [[AFriendInNeed Houston provided shelter for the bulk of the refugees]]. A number of them stayed. (And, because quite a few of them were … shall we say … [[BigEater rather hefty]], Houston has now surpassed "N'awlins" as the fattest per capita city in the U.S.)

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When UsefulNotes/NewOrleans sank beneath the waves during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, [[AFriendInNeed Houston provided shelter for the bulk of the refugees]]. A number of them stayed. (And, because quite a few of them were … shall we say … [[BigEater rather hefty]], Houston has now surpassed "N'awlins" as the fattest per capita city in the U.S.) ) Houston got hit by its own hurricane -- Hurricane Rita -- about a month after Katrina, but the damage was nowhere near as bad.

** Gulfton got it pretty bad after the 80's, due to a combination of absurdly bad urban planning, illegal immigration, and a high population density in its numerous apartments. Though most of the illegal immigrants are just trying to get by, unfortuantely a lot of problems show up as well since drug mules, dealers, and people trying to steal or scrape together enough money for their next fix make the neighborhood into a tense, dangerous slum.

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** Gulfton got it pretty bad after the 80's, due to a combination of absurdly bad urban planning, illegal immigration, and a high population density in its numerous apartments. Though most of the illegal immigrants are just trying to get by, unfortuantely unfortunately a lot of problems show up as well since drug mules, dealers, and people trying to steal or scrape together enough money for their next fix make the neighborhood into a tense, dangerous slum.

Reason: For the floods, I was there. It wasn't fun getting out. Also, grammar correction.

*** And there are the plenty of other Freeways in Houston that include: the ones named after cities they pass through (Crosby Freeway, La Porte Expressway, Tomball Parkway), the Toll Roads (Hardy Tollroad, Westpark Tollway, Fort Bend Parkway), [[AndZoidberg and]] [[IncrediblyLamePun the Spurs]] (Spur 527, Spur 5, and Spur 330) ** Played Straight (originally averted), with the Memorial Villages. Originally, all but one had village in the name, but the last holdout, Spring Valley Village, added village to its name in 2007

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*** And there are the plenty of other Freeways in Houston that include: the ones named after cities they pass through (Crosby Freeway, La Porte Expressway, Tomball Parkway), the Toll Roads (Hardy Tollroad, Toll Road, Westpark Tollway, Fort Bend Parkway), Parkway; the first two are named for roads they run alongside), [[AndZoidberg and]] [[IncrediblyLamePun the Spurs]] (Spur 527, Spur 5, and Spur 330) ** Played Straight (originally averted), with the Memorial Villages. Originally, all but one had village in the name, but the last holdout, Spring Valley Village, added village to its name in 20072007.

* WhenItRainsItPoursWhenItRainsItPours: Rain tends to get pretty heavy sometimes, and can lead to the bayous flooding. Two incidents where this went UpToEleven were with Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 and the "Tax Day" rains and floods of 2016.

* Greenway Plaza - a large mixed use development built between Downtown and Uptown, it is yet another center for Houston's amazing skyline and only exist because of Southwest Freeway. One of the key parts of the complex is the Lakewood Church, formerly the Compaq Center. The church is huge, the largest in the United States by most estimates. Another key part of the complex is the Regal/Edwards Grand Palace movie complex, which is the largest cinema inside the loop and one of the most luxurious cineplexes in the United States, featuring a parking garage, a Marble Slab Creamery, and formerly a Landry's restaurant Harlow's, though the food options couldn't be taken into one of the theater's screening rooms. The restaurant closed in 2016.

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* Greenway Plaza - a large mixed use development built between Downtown and Uptown, it is yet another center for Houston's amazing skyline and only exist because of Southwest Freeway. One of the key parts of the complex is the Lakewood Church, formerly the Compaq Center. The church is huge, the largest in the United States by most estimates. Another key part of the complex is the Regal/Edwards Grand Palace movie complex, which is the largest cinema inside the loop and one of the most luxurious cineplexes in the United States, featuring a parking garage, a Marble Slab Creamery, and formerly a Landry's restaurant named Harlow's, though the food options couldn't be taken into one of the theater's screening rooms. The restaurant closed in 2016.

* Houston Theater District - This is where it's at! This area is home to a resident company in every major art discipline, including the Symphony orchestra. As the name implies, its home to theaters, but also performing arts centers, hotels, and the new Bayou Place Entertainment complex. We even managed to squeeze an Aquarium in there.

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* Houston Theater District - This is where it's at! This area is home to a resident company in every major art discipline, including the Symphony orchestra. As the name implies, its it's home to theaters, but also performing arts centers, hotels, and the new Bayou Place Entertainment complex. We even managed to squeeze an Aquarium in there.

The area that makes up the extreme west of the Greater Houston region, it straddles the Katy Freeway (Interstate 10). Has grown into one big majority white suburb. Most of the area is in Houston but not ''of'' it (its in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction but has not been annexed). Communities include:

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The area that makes up the extreme west of the Greater Houston region, it straddles the Katy Freeway (Interstate 10). Has grown into one big majority white suburb. Most of the area is in Houston but not ''of'' it (its (it's in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction but has not been annexed). Communities include:

* Uptown - Also called the Galleria Area, if there is an area every visitor to Houston visits just once, its Uptown. Uptown Houston is a large commercial district (so large in fact that it rivals and even surpasses many downtown areas in size, hell it rivals downtown Los Angeles and is the 17th largest business district in the United States!) centered on Houston's premier shopping mall, the Galleria. The Houston Galleria is the largest shopping mall in Texas and eighth largest in the United States, and is ritzy as all hell, but it is just one component in what is essentially the Beverly Hills of Texas ([[TakeThat except actually part of the city it is mostly associated with]]). High Class is the name of the game here and everything about this area caters to it. Oh and did we mention the size of the skyline? Really, this is the most spread out component of Houston's skyline bar none, straddling almost the entirety of the 610 Loop from Southwest Freeway to Interstate 10 though it lacks the thick skyscraper buildup of downtown, at least, for now. The most recognizable structure, visable from almost anywhere in Greater Houston, is the Williams Tower, tallest building outside any Central Business district when it was built and a behemoth that literally towers over everything around it. All in all, this area has done pretty good for a neighborhood that, up to the 1960s, was nothing but farmland.[[note]]Westheimer Road is also known as FM - Farm to Market Road - 1093. Nobody thinks this is ironic.[[/note]]

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* Uptown - Also called the Galleria Area, if there is an area every visitor to Houston visits just once, its it's Uptown. Uptown Houston is a large commercial district (so large in fact that it rivals and even surpasses many downtown areas in size, hell it rivals downtown Los Angeles and is the 17th largest business district in the United States!) centered on Houston's premier shopping mall, the Galleria. The Houston Galleria is the largest shopping mall in Texas and eighth largest in the United States, and is ritzy as all hell, but it is just one component in what is essentially the Beverly Hills of Texas ([[TakeThat except actually part of the city it is mostly associated with]]). High Class is the name of the game here and everything about this area caters to it. Oh and did we mention the size of the skyline? Really, this is the most spread out component of Houston's skyline bar none, straddling almost the entirety of the 610 Loop from Southwest Freeway to Interstate 10 though it lacks the thick skyscraper buildup of downtown, at least, for now. The most recognizable structure, visable visible from almost anywhere in Greater Houston, is the Williams Tower, tallest building outside any Central Business district when it was built and a behemoth that literally towers over everything around it. All in all, this area has done pretty good for a neighborhood that, up to the 1960s, was nothing but farmland.[[note]]Westheimer Road is also known as FM - Farm to Market Road - 1093. Nobody thinks this is ironic.[[/note]]

* Greenway Plaza - a large mixed use development built between Downtown and Uptown, it is yet another center for Houston's amazing skyline and only exist because of Southwest Freeway. One of the key parts of the complex is the Lakewood Church, formerly the Compaq Center. The church is huge, the largest in the United States by most estimates. Another key part of the complex is the Regal/Edwards Grand Palace movie complex, which is the largest cinema inside the loop and one of the most luxurious cineplexes in the United States, featuring a parking garage, a Marble Slab Creamery, and Landry's restaurant Harlow's, though the food options can't be taken into one of the theater's screening rooms.

to:

* Greenway Plaza - a large mixed use development built between Downtown and Uptown, it is yet another center for Houston's amazing skyline and only exist because of Southwest Freeway. One of the key parts of the complex is the Lakewood Church, formerly the Compaq Center. The church is huge, the largest in the United States by most estimates. Another key part of the complex is the Regal/Edwards Grand Palace movie complex, which is the largest cinema inside the loop and one of the most luxurious cineplexes in the United States, featuring a parking garage, a Marble Slab Creamery, and formerly a Landry's restaurant Harlow's, though the food options can't couldn't be taken into one of the theater's screening rooms.rooms. The restaurant closed in 2016.

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